List of Detroit Red Wings seasons

In the front row, Nicklas Lidstrom holds a Red Wings jersey with the last name "BUSH" and the number "41" while George W. Bush holds a Red Wings jersey with the last name "BUSH" and the number "43". To Lidstrom's right is the Stanley Cup. Second row, left to right: Mike Babcock, Ken Holland, Jim Devellano, Jim Nill, unknown man. Third row, left to right: Kris Draper, Pavel Datsyuk, Mikael Samuelsson, Brian Rafalski, Derek Meech, Kirk Maltby, Chris Osgood, Aaron Downey.
The 2008 Stanley Cup champion Red Wings present two jerseys to U.S. President George W. Bush.

The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL)[1] and are one of the Original Six teams of the league.[2] Founded in 1926, the team was known as the Cougars from then until 1930. For the 1930–31 and 1931–32 seasons the team was called the Falcons, and in 1932 changed their name to the Red Wings.[3] The 2023–24 season was the 98th for the Detroit franchise. Since their founding, the Red Wings have won 3,097 regular season games, accumulated 19 division championships and six conference championships, led the league in points 18 times, appeared in the Stanley Cup playoffs 64 times, and won 11 Stanley Cup titles.[4]

Detroit first qualified for the playoffs in 1929 where they lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs 7–2 in total goals scored.[5] In the 38 seasons from 1929 to 1966 the team missed the playoffs only six times.[6][7][8] They appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals 18 times during this period, winning the Stanley Cup in seven of those opportunities, with their championships coming in 1936, 1937, 1943, 1950, 1952, 1954, and 1955. Their last Finals appearance of this era came in 1966 when they lost in six games to the Montreal Canadiens. The Red Wings then experienced a period, from 1967 until 1983, when they made the playoffs only twice, winning only one series, beating the Atlanta Flames two games to none in 1978.[8]

The Red Wings returned to the playoffs in 1984 where they suffered a first round defeat to the St. Louis Blues. In the 36 seasons since then they have made the playoffs 30 times, including 25 consecutive seasons from 1991 to 2016 (not counting the cancelled 2004–05 season). They returned to the Finals for the first time since 1966 in 1995 where they were swept by the New Jersey Devils in four games. However, in 1997 they made it back to the Finals, winning the series in four straight games over the Philadelphia Flyers. They repeated as champions in the following season with a four-game sweep of the Washington Capitals. Their most recent championships were in 2002 and 2008, with their most recent Finals appearance in 2009 where they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins.[8]

  1. ^ "Rosters, Arena Information, and Aerial Maps". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on August 24, 2013. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  2. ^ The Canadian Press (May 14, 2013). "4 of the NHL's Original 6 – Chicago, Detroit, Boston, NY Rangers – among 8 still in playoffs". Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Guide was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Team Index". Hockey-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 28, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference 1929S was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cougars was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Falcons was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference RedWings was invoked but never defined (see the help page).